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Battle of the Underdogs - Lennox v AJ
Posted: 15 Aug 2019, 16:23
by Gnome
Lennox Lewis and Anthony Joshua have been having a bit of a go at each other recently. Both men have famously lost in big upsets In World championship fights, but which of their opponents was the best at the time of their victories against the British World champion?
Re: Battle of the Underdogs - Lennox v AJ
Posted: 15 Aug 2019, 16:37
by banjo
McCall as of now.
Don't know enough about Ruiz yet, who knows he may beat AJ again and go on to have a decent career.
Re: Battle of the Underdogs - Lennox v AJ
Posted: 16 Aug 2019, 02:14
by DrDuke
Ruiz is the best out of those.
McCall was considered as a journeyman prior to that bout. Rahman was considered as B-level competitor. Those fights were almost openly presented as warm-ups for something bigger. Lewis lost because of underestimating and not being fully prepared.
Ruiz was a huge underdog as well, but he was considered as a dangerous top fighter, who by many opinions should have been still undefeated, cause he had been robbed in the title fight against Parker. Joshua was well-prepared for Ruiz, he made a tactical mistake though.
Re: Battle of the Underdogs - Lennox v AJ
Posted: 16 Aug 2019, 04:00
by mickey1975
McCall, the greatest chin I’ve seen and a bad match for Lennox.
Re: Battle of the Underdogs - Lennox v AJ
Posted: 16 Aug 2019, 04:14
by polecateddy
I think the version of McCall in the first fight was a real handful. Trained by Stewart, highly motivated and dare I say probably chock full of performance enhancing drugs. McCall was never as good as that night either before or after that fight.
Re: Battle of the Underdogs - Lennox v AJ
Posted: 16 Aug 2019, 09:02
by THEBUTCH
As tough as McCall undoubtedly was, his "chin" maybe overrated. He'd be quite prepared to settle for 2nd best at times, rather than having that winning mentality which will put you in harms way.
Had he gone for it in the 2nd fight with Lewis, I'm sure he would have got demolished and he seemed to know it too. That was quite an implosion on his part.
Re: Battle of the Underdogs - Lennox v AJ
Posted: 16 Aug 2019, 10:09
by polecateddy
I don’t know, his chin was pretty amazing. Wasn’t he basically giving Lennox free shots at it and taking it all. I just don’t think he was either physically or mentally prepared for the rematch due to his ongoing drug addiction issues. I think the only heavyweight to ever ever really hurt him was Frank Bruno, who really tagged him in the second round of their fight and made his legs dip.
Re: Battle of the Underdogs - Lennox v AJ
Posted: 16 Aug 2019, 13:14
by bigjack
polecateddy wrote: ↑16 Aug 2019, 10:09
I don’t know, his chin was pretty amazing. Wasn’t he basically giving Lennox free shots at it and taking it all. I just don’t think he was either physically or mentally prepared for the rematch due to his ongoing drug addiction issues. I think the only heavyweight to ever ever really hurt him was Frank Bruno, who really tagged him in the second round of their fight and made his legs dip.
Just watched the fight and didn't notice Bruno dipping McCall's legs in the second
Re: Battle of the Underdogs - Lennox v AJ
Posted: 16 Aug 2019, 13:42
by SteveO
Bruno definitely stunned McCall.
Re: Battle of the Underdogs - Lennox v AJ
Posted: 16 Aug 2019, 15:32
by lillywhite14
DrDuke wrote: ↑16 Aug 2019, 02:14
Ruiz is the best out of those.
McCall was considered as a journeyman prior to that bout. Rahman was considered as B-level competitor. Those fights were almost openly presented as warm-ups for something bigger. Lewis lost because of underestimating and not being fully prepared.
Ruiz was a huge underdog as well, but he was considered as a dangerous top fighter, who by many opinions should have been still undefeated, cause he had been robbed in the title fight against Parker. Joshua was well-prepared for Ruiz, he made a tactical mistake though.
I believe McCall was being talked up as being a dangerous fight by more than one popular boxing magazine at the time.
All three were looked at as warm up fights before bigger tests ( McCall - Bowe, Rahman - Tyson, Ruiz - Wilder/Fury/Usyk )
Ruiz was selected as Joshua’s showcase fight to the USA!
Was he really ‘robbed’ against Parker? Wasn’t it a very close fight?
Re: Battle of the Underdogs - Lennox v AJ
Posted: 16 Aug 2019, 15:34
by margaret thatcher
Jury still out there for me on Ruiz. A lot of people are only thinking about the AJ fight but he did lose to Parker and has been very lacklustre a good few times. He was dreadful vs Liakhovich and certainly has had issues with dedication and dropping fights. People go on and on about how AJ will return, but I'm at least as interested to see what Ruiz does and if he can keep up the success
Re: Battle of the Underdogs - Lennox v AJ
Posted: 16 Aug 2019, 18:17
by kbackup408
I am not sure all is well in the AJ camp, lashing out at Lennox is showing mental weakness.
You will be surprised how fast a fan base can evaporate after a few L's (especially in this 2019 meme social media generation) !
Re: Battle of the Underdogs - Lennox v AJ
Posted: 16 Aug 2019, 18:46
by polecateddy
The whole Lennox, Twitter thing doesn’t reflect well on Joshua. I think at one time I’d imagine he expected to reach Lennox’s level, but now I think in his mind he knows he’s nowhere near it.
Re: Battle of the Underdogs - Lennox v AJ
Posted: 17 Aug 2019, 03:12
by mickey1975
polecateddy wrote: ↑16 Aug 2019, 18:46
The whole Lennox, Twitter thing doesn’t reflect well on Joshua. I think at one time I’d imagine he expected to reach Lennox’s level, but now I think in his mind he knows he’s nowhere near it.
Well, he’s managed to get duffed up once, only one more and they’re level.
Re: Battle of the Underdogs - Lennox v AJ
Posted: 17 Aug 2019, 04:36
by Coco
Parker is a solid fighter but that's it. For Ruiz to be in a close fight with him shows his level.
After being dropped by AJ, the Brit walked into a temple shot he never recovered from.
Sometimes it's better to be chinned as they are easier to recover from.
Let's not overrate Ruiz
Re: Battle of the Underdogs - Lennox v AJ
Posted: 17 Aug 2019, 09:47
by BroughtonRulesRefuge
polecateddy wrote: ↑16 Aug 2019, 18:46
The whole Lennox, Twitter thing doesn’t reflect well on Joshua. I think at one time I’d imagine he expected to reach Lennox’s level, but now I think in his mind he knows he’s nowhere near it.
- Polecats should not comment on Lions and Tigers.
AJ already miles ahead of Lewis in their careers with unified title defenses, currently 7-1 in title fights. Never one punched into oblivion either.
Lewis never defended his unified titles, instead selling them off to bolster DKing, the biggest crook in boxing.
AJ set modern day stadium records and electrified the Brit public in comparison to the Boorish Lewis and remains a big presence in amateur boxing, ie giving back to the community.
Lewis was insanely jealous of the Ks and now AJ, a little mans complex encased in a big mans body, a cartoon.
At any rate, Hearns probably behind this schoolboy spat so as to get Lewis between the fighters because otherwise, Andy can't sell squat on his own.
Re: Battle of the Underdogs - Lennox v AJ
Posted: 17 Aug 2019, 11:15
by TheGman
Gotta be Oliver mcCall
Re: Battle of the Underdogs - Lennox v AJ
Posted: 17 Aug 2019, 12:23
by jamesmcdonnell
BroughtonRulesRefuge wrote: ↑17 Aug 2019, 09:47
polecateddy wrote: ↑16 Aug 2019, 18:46
The whole Lennox, Twitter thing doesn’t reflect well on Joshua. I think at one time I’d imagine he expected to reach Lennox’s level, but now I think in his mind he knows he’s nowhere near it.
- Polecats should not comment on Lions and Tigers.
AJ already miles ahead of Lewis in their careers with unified title defenses, currently 7-1 in title fights. Never one punched into oblivion either.
Lewis never defended his unified titles, instead selling them off to bolster DKing, the biggest crook in boxing.
AJ set modern day stadium records and electrified the Brit public in comparison to the Boorish Lewis and remains a big presence in amateur boxing, ie giving back to the community.
Lewis was insanely jealous of the Ks and now AJ, a little mans complex encased in a big mans body, a cartoon.
At any rate, Hearns probably behind this schoolboy spat so as to get Lewis between the fighters because otherwise, Andy can't sell squat on his own.
You're quite the comedian.
Re: Battle of the Underdogs - Lennox v AJ
Posted: 17 Aug 2019, 13:50
by chinarich
bigjack wrote: ↑16 Aug 2019, 13:14
polecateddy wrote: ↑16 Aug 2019, 10:09
I don’t know, his chin was pretty amazing. Wasn’t he basically giving Lennox free shots at it and taking it all. I just don’t think he was either physically or mentally prepared for the rematch due to his ongoing drug addiction issues. I think the only heavyweight to ever ever really hurt him was Frank Bruno, who really tagged him in the second round of their fight and made his legs dip.
Just watched the fight and didn't notice Bruno dipping McCall's legs in the second
I read an interview with Lionel Butler recently where he claims to have put McCall on the canvas during their fight. There isn’t a knockdown reported on boxrec and I have never seen any fight footage...
Re: Battle of the Underdogs - Lennox v AJ
Posted: 17 Aug 2019, 14:04
by bigjack
chinarich wrote: ↑17 Aug 2019, 13:50
bigjack wrote: ↑16 Aug 2019, 13:14
Just watched the fight and didn't notice Bruno dipping McCall's legs in the second
I read an interview with Lionel Butler recently where he claims to have put McCall on the canvas during their fight. There isn’t a knockdown reported on boxrec and I have never seen any fight footage...
I tried to find that,nothing.
Re: Battle of the Underdogs - Lennox v AJ
Posted: 17 Aug 2019, 14:55
by polecateddy
Was it the 1st round where he rocked McCall then?